American folk singer, song adapter and banjoist (1938–2005)
Hedy West
West performing at Newport Folk Festival, 1964
Background information
Birth name
Hedwig Grace West
Born
(1938-04-06)April 6, 1938
Origin
Cartersville, Georgia[1]
Died
July 3, 2005(2005-07-03) (aged 67)
Genres
Folk music
Occupation(s)
Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)
Vocals, banjo
Years active
1961–2005
Musical artist
Hedwig Grace "Hedy" West (April 6, 1938 – July 3, 2005) was an American folksinger and songwriter. She belonged to the same generation of folk revivalists as Joan Baez and Judy Collins. Her most famous song "500 Miles" is one of America's most popular folk songs. English folk musician A. L. Lloyd declared West to be "far and away the best of [the] American girl singers in the [folk] revival."[1][2]
Hedy West played the guitar and the banjo. On banjo, she played both clawhammer style and a unique type of three-finger picking that exhibited influences outside of bluegrass and old-time, such as blues and jazz. She is a 2022 inductee to the Georgia Women of Achievement.[3]
^ abSchofield, Derek (September 11, 2005). "Hedy West". The Guardian. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
^Similarly, Lloyd's liner notes for West's 1967 "Old Times" album on Folk-Legacy (West, Hedy. "Old Times & Hard Times". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved January 17, 2021.), called her "by far the best" of the "women singers of the American
folksong revival."
^"Hedwig "Hedy" Grace West". Georgia Women of Achievement. Archived from the original on February 13, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
Hedwig Grace "Hedy" West (April 6, 1938 – July 3, 2005) was an American folksinger and songwriter. She belonged to the same generation of folk revivalists...
generally credited as being written by HedyWest, and a 1961 copyright is held by Atzal Music, Inc. "500 Miles" is West's "most anthologized song". Some recordings...
Hedy (/ˈhɛdi/) is a German given name, sometimes a diminutive form of Hedwig. Notable people with the name include: Hedy Bienenfeld (1907–1976), Austrian-American...
including Jean Ritchie, Roscoe Holcomb, Ola Belle Reed, Lily May Ledford, HedyWest and Doc Watson. Country and bluegrass artists such as Loretta Lynn, Roy...
whom she nicknames "Hedy", and they become friends. Hedy explains that her twin was stillborn, leaving her constantly lonely. Hedy becomes overly protective...
Hedy Epstein (née Wachenheimer; August 15, 1924 – May 26, 2016) was a German-born Jewish-American political activist and Holocaust survivor known for her...
Judith Alene Callahan in 1966. Prior to this he was engaged to folk singer HedyWest for six months from 1961 to 1962. Roger and Judith had two sons, Devin...
Miles Away from Home" (based on a traditional folk ballad written by HedyWest as "500 Miles") and Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds". In 1965 he received...
It continued to issue folk music with newly signed artists Joan Baez, HedyWest, the Rooftop Singers, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ian and Sylvia, and Mimi and...
Elizabeth Cotten, Patrick Sky, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tom Paxton, Judy Collins, HedyWest, Donovan, The Clancy Brothers, Richard Fariña and Mimi Fariña, Sonny Terry...
fell in love with a Harvard graduate, a young army lieutenant, Clifford West Henry, who was chief bayonet instructor at Camp Gordon from May 10 until...
Journal, December 1, 1955. "Merle Travis on Home Ground", Interview with HedyWest in Sing Out, Vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 20–26. "Interview: Merle Travis Talking...
Title Writer(s) Year Album debut Source 500 Miles HedyWest 1966 In A Private Moment Adam and Evil Fred Wise, Randy Starr 1966 Spinout After Loving You...
The Stanley Brothers, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Doc Watson, and HedyWest. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem and Tom Paxton appeared on the first...
Sylvia Eric Von Schmidt The Washington Squares Doc Watson Gillian Welch HedyWest Robin and Linda Williams Glenn Yarborough Albert Grossman Harold Leventhal...
Woods 2018 "Five Hundred Miles" (With Carey Mulligan and Stark Sands) HedyWest Inside Llewyn Davis 2013 "Flannel" Justin Timberlake Chad Hugo Pharrell...
Jeff Barry 2:56 4. "Sing C'est la Vie" Sonny Bono, Charles Green, Brian Stone 3:39 5. "It's Gonna Rain" Sonny Bono 2:24 6. "500 Miles" HedyWest 3:55...
Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia, where she died May 3, 1962; burial was in West View Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia. She received a number of honors. In 1947...
Dave Swarbrick, Martin Carthy & Diz Disley: Rags, Reels & Airs (1967) HedyWest, Serves 'Em Fine (1967) (as accompanist) Various Artists: Bright Phoebus:...
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